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I do a lot of sharpening experiments and am curious to some of the pro's take on my recent breakthrough. Since I cant afford a jnat and like both polished edges and teeth, I've recently been polishing as much as I can on an 8k stone followed by 3-4 light strops on a 1.5k stone as an attempt at a poor man's jnat. I'm sure im not the first person to do this but I think I can claim the term "broken mirror" as my own. The resulting edge is outstanding, versatile, long lasting, toothy and refined. Are there other sharpeners that do this or have any of you found cons for this technique. Does anyone with a loupe know if this strategy is actually an elaborate way to wind up with a 1.5 edge. Im just curious if some of you wise folk have any thoughts or wisdom on the issue.

Well how much of a blend you get between the two stones is a relative matter. More strokes with the coarse stone will convert the finish or downgrade it closer to the coarse edge. To better understand this just get a 10x or so loupe.

I also strongly disagree with your assessment of a Japanese Natural stone being prohibitively expensive. In the range of grits you are discussing, there are several alternatives that are less expensive than most synthetic 8k stones. While there are VERY expensive Japanese Naturals, not all of them are.

The scratch patterns from a mix of synthetic scratch patterns is completely different than a natural stone scratch pattern.

I agree with KEN, on all accounts. Furthermore, I own 3 Jnats that had cost me approximately $80, $135, & $135.

_________________Embracing the silence amid a life and land full of static...

studio398

Post subject: Re: broken mirror?

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 12:58 pm

Joined: Sat Mar 22, 2014 8:38 amPosts: 369

Just curious, Mel, which 3 Jnats do you own? i have an aono aoto, and a meara. i also agree with Ken and Mel on the price of the Jnats.

pat

_________________so many stones, so little time.

Melampus

Post subject: Re: broken mirror?

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 1:03 pm

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Joined: Wed May 16, 2012 10:42 amPosts: 3915Location: USA... mostly.

Ozuku, Yaginoshima, & Meara.

_________________Embracing the silence amid a life and land full of static...

jmcnelly85

Post subject: Re: broken mirror?

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 10:20 pm

Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:28 pmPosts: 1307

I should clarify that I didn't intend to imply that the cost of jnats is the sole reason I don't have one yet. I've recently dropped a good chunk if change into stones and for the short term future my next knife related purchases will be knives themselves. Ken, I will take you up on that offer when I am in the market for a jnat down the road, I guess the point of this post was more for finding out if this was a sound premise instead of furthering negative myths on natural stones. Thanks for the responses

Looking forward to a chat with you regarding affordable natural stone alternatives. I always like to encourage experimentation so if you want to experiment a bit, I would recommend a cheap loupe - ~$10 and I can send you something to experiment with to get you started seeing the scratch patterns of naturals vs synthetics. My treat for the stone

Jumping up works a lot better and will yield more predictable results. Going coarse on a fine polish is going to produce a coarse edge, the abrasive size is so much larger that it complete wipes out the much finer polished edge. When you polish a coarse edge you are hitting the peaks of the scratches and removing excess burr at the apex but the coarser "teeth" at the edge remain for the most part, intact. Regardless of how it's done it never comes close to a natural stone edge.

I use a 1k and 5k Shapton pro for that polished-toothy edge but there are also individual stones that combine these effects. The Naniwa 2k green brick is a perfect example of this.

jmcnelly85

Post subject: Re: broken mirror?

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 11:33 pm

Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:28 pmPosts: 1307

Ken, I'm going to give you a call in the not too distant future for a jnat because this is far too fun not to experiment more. Jason, its funny, I have (almost) the stones you mention (shapton pro 1.5 and 5k with a green brick) I really love the gb edge but I used to go 1.5-gb-5k-8k and it was just too polished. My initial breakthrough was the solution to the polish. I used your suggestion and jumped up trying to go from 1.5 to the 8 and did get a better multi-functional edge from it than my "broken mirror" I think I might use the 5k stone for a touch up tomorrow. And next week try the 1.5-5 and see how it compares. Thank for helping me get a better edge, especially for a heavy prep day.

Its weird, even though the gb edge is a great all around edge, since I have these stones, I wanna use them and keep them in my progression. Especially one I like as much as the green brick. Favoritism is no match for results, unless my go to edge ends up being gb polish. I'm looking forward to experimenting more and am thankful for everyone's help.

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